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my convics had babies now what

1K views 6 replies 3 participants last post by  bigrift 
#1 ·
ok so in a earlier post i asked what i could add into my 55g tank with my (thought to be all male fish but guess not lol) 2 JD's 2 fire mouth's and 2 convics. well i was looking at my tank and thought hey it would be nice to add a background to my tank (i was thinking black construction paper) and to do this i would have to move the tank out from the wall . so i move the tank out a foot and a half from the wall and i looked inside this hole my convics dug out under one of the big base rocks and i see what at first looked like a mass of moveing poop. to my suprise its a few hundred at least fry with egg sacks and im not kidding on the number they are all over in that hole. so my question is now what do i do? i would like to grow a few out but i dont really want all of them. whens a good time to syphon them out of the tank? i know they will become free swimming and most likely get eaten in a few days but i dont know if i take them out now if it will stress both convics cause they are both very diligently protecting the fry (i had used my hand to move something in the tank and went near the hole without knowing of the fry and got attacked lol). any help will be apreciated and ill see if i can get a pic of them up to =D
 
#2 ·
Syphon out the fry ,and keep what you want. Believe you will perhaps have trouble with finding homes for the fry. Most folks are well aware of temperment of convicts ,along with their prolific re-production capabilities and steer clear of these fish for those reason's. Can't give em away in most areas.
Might also keep an eye on the Dempsey's. Two adult male Dempsey's often =one dead Dempsey in all but the largest aquariums.
 
#3 ·
yeah so iv herd about the JD's i thought i was getting a male and female of each fish but everything i read about sexing them they all look male to me but hey i was wrong once allready lol. as far as the convics go iv decided to leave it up to fate, if they survive by some act of god then so be it but if they get eaten well its just how it is. back to the JD's quickly im not sure if its just a temporary thing or not but the 2 JD's i have spend a awful lot of time togeather. one of the JD's has no tail but i guess its been that way for a while it was fully healed and he looked cool that way he rules the tank for sure keeping all the other fish at bay yet when it comes to the other JD he will let it go anywhere and even stay next to him for very long periods of time. dose this mean maybe the other JD is a female?
 
#4 ·
Could be so. Male/female will get along much better than two males unless the female shows no interest in the males advances.
It is during spawning that many/most cichlids ,will become less tolerant of tankmates at which time you may have to move some fish around.
Might keep an eye out for another perhaps used tank in case you need to move fish if you don't already have one.
 
#5 ·
I just want to warn you from experience with your convicts if you are leaving the babies in the tank that the convicts may take over 3/4 of your tank or more even if all of your other fish are bigger and meaner then them. I had my breeding pair of convicts in my 55 gallon tank with a large GT, 2 large JDs, a large texas cichlid and a medium black shark. I had to move the convicts to their own tank (had a large pleco in with them but they shredded his tail and fins and chased him out of the tank). Luckily he did it just before feeding time so I was able to rescue him and he is fully recovered in a different tank now.
 
#6 ·
you know its funny you say that cause i had noticed today that my 2 jd's and my firemouths are stuck in the top corner of the tank and if they move the convicts come after them. well i decided this isnt gunna happen so they are going back to my lfs and the babies... well if they make it they make it.
 
#7 ·
ok so i tryed to get both convicts out of the tank... yeah right lol. there are so many hideing places the wouldnt go near me till finally one literly went stright into the net itself. after about a hour of one and off frustration trying to net the other i decided just to get a devider for the tank. i moved my rocks around a little bit and made a space for it. tell ya the truth watching the convicts be parents is kinda fun watching them gather up the fry and move them around the tank. the other fish dont find it as much fun though getting beaten up all the timelol. but now i need to ask about the JD's cause one of them is a little fat and the other keeps rubbing up against it is the fat one ready to lay eggs maybe? am i going to have to put another devider up for them to? and as i was typeing this i noticed one of my firemouths rubbing up against the fat one also o_O. i dunno everything i have read about these fish has all been wrong so far guess ill just have to wait and see =)
 
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